All Saints Church, Benhilton is a grade II listed Church of England in the Parish of Benhilton, north Sutton. It dates to 1863-1867 when it was constructed on a purpose-built platform on a steep slope to the east of the appropriately-named Angel Hill which had been man-made in the 1770s. The church was originally intended to be used by the inhabitants of a new estate of upper class housing built by the land owner, Thomas Alcock, who himself gifted £18,000 towards the church’s construction. The Parish of Benhilton came into being on 15th September 1863 and the church’s construction swiftly followed. The architect was Samuel Teulon who designed the building in the Gothic Revival style. The total cost of the church was £24,000 but this figure included a school and other buildings.
The church is built from bricks with flint facing on its external walls. It features an imposing tower at its western end with a clock on each of the north, south and west faces. Unusually, the church’s ‘putlog’ holes to support scaffolding during its construction were not filled in and covered over, as in most Victorian churches, but were left conspicuous in a conscious evocation of medieval buildings. The church has a total of eight bells, added gradually until 1893, the first of these having been given to the church by Thomas Alcock and rung for the first time at the church’s consecration.
The church stands within a churchyard, some of which is rather dilapidated these days. There are many tombs and graves worth seeing, however, including a WWI memorial in the south-western corner of the churchyard.
The cache is a small box near to the church but not within the grounds of the church itself. Please bring a pen or pencil to sign the log. You will need to practice stealth as it is quite a busy area, especially at certain times of day, hence the difficulty rating. You should be able to park in All Saints Road but you may have to park further up the road, past Benhill Wood Road and even Woodend, as the road can get busy and there are parking restrictions near the church. Please check the rules for parking on the yellow zig-zags.
Further information can be found at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints_Church,_Benhilton
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